Membership
Membership is extended by invitation, following introduction by two members in good standing. It is transferable within a family, and it is for life.
The Character of It
A membership at Ridgemont is not a subscription. It is a share in a trust — of the land, the house, the silver, and the customs — held in common with four hundred eighty-one other families and passed, in time, to the next generation of one's own. Members keep their own keys, sign no chits before eleven, and are known by name by the staff within a fortnight.
The figures below are presented plainly, as the club prefers: initiation is a one-time contribution to the capital trust, and dues carry the year's keeping. Neither has been raised faster than the cost of keeping since 1998.
The Tiers
$185,000 Initiation · $1,950 monthly dues
Every acre, every room, every morning.
$60,000 Initiation · $890 monthly dues
For the racquets-and-spa household.
$35,000 Initiation · $540 monthly dues
The table, the calendar, the pools.
$45,000 Initiation · $610 monthly dues
For those whose principal home lies beyond one hundred miles.
Figures are as of January 2026 and are reviewed each December by the Board of Governors. A capital assessment has been levied twice in the club's history — 1962 and 2016 — each time by a vote of the full membership.
Side by Side
| Privilege | Founders | Sport | Social | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Founders Course | Unlimited | 12 rounds, after 2 p.m. | Guest only | In residence |
| Meadow Nine | ● | ● | Guest only | In residence |
| Tennis, platform & pickleball | ● | ● | Guest only | In residence |
| Croquet lawn | ● | ● | ● | In residence |
| Stillhouse Spa | ● | ● | Member rates | In residence |
| Fitness pavilion & pools | ● | ● | ● | In residence |
| Whitfield Dining Room | ● | Sundays | ● | In residence |
| Grille, Terrace & Halfway House | ● | ● | ● | In residence |
| Social calendar | ● | ● | ● | ● |
| Guest cards per season | Two | One | Six guest days | In residence |
| Reciprocal clubs | Full | Racquets & dining | Dining | Full |
| Vote & Board eligibility | ● | — | — | — |
| Transfer to spouse or issue | Once, without initiation | With conversion | With conversion | — |
The Journey
The path is deliberately unhurried — most candidates walk it in four to seven months. It is described here in full because the club believes a thing worth joining is worth understanding first.
I.
A note to the Membership Office — the form below serves — begins a conversation with Caroline Ashe Prescott, our Director of Membership, in her fourteenth year. Expect a reply within two business days.
II.
A morning at the club: the course walked or played, luncheon in the Grille, the house and grounds at leisure. Candidates are encouraged to bring the whole household; the club is joining them as much as they it.
III.
Two members in good standing write in support. For those new to the county, the Membership Committee is practiced at making the introductions the letters require.
IV.
Election by the Board at its monthly meeting, then induction at the next First Friday — the charter read aloud, the key presented, and supper with the governors. One's locker is lettered by morning.
The Inquiry
Write to the Membership Office below. Your note is read by a person — Mrs. Prescott, most often — and answered within two business days.
The office may be reached directly at (434) 555-0182, or by post at 2100 Ridgemont Lane, Keswick, Virginia 22947. Letters remain perfectly acceptable.
Your inquiry has been placed in the Membership Office book. Mrs. Prescott will write within two business days — by email, unless you have asked for the post. There is nothing further to do, and nothing to prepare. The club moves at its own pace, and it is a pleasant one.
Reference · {{ref}}Asked Quietly
There is, and it is honest: Founders memberships become available only as estates are settled, and the wait has run between two and four years for the past decade. Sport and Social memberships are ordinarily available within the year, and both convert to Founders — with full credit for initiation paid — as places open. Most of the membership came in exactly that way.
Initiation is paid to the capital trust, not to operations. The trust has built the west wing, restored the course, and endowed the land's keeping; it has never once been drawn upon to cover dues. Audited statements are read at the Annual Meeting each February.
Children of members hold full household privileges to their twenty-fifth birthday, and junior golf and racquets programs take them from six. At twenty-five, a member's child may take up an Intermediate membership at reduced dues until thirty-six — the club's deliberate way of keeping the third generation on the property until it can afford its own key.
A food-and-beverage minimum of $1,200 per quarter applies to Founders and Sport tiers ($600 to Social), and it is a floor most households pass by June. Golf cart, caddie, guest, and spa charges are as listed in the club book. There is no assessment culture at Ridgemont; two in one hundred thirteen years is the whole of it.
It helps and is not required. Roughly a third of each year's inductions arrive with no prior acquaintance at all; the Membership Committee arranges the introductions that sponsorship requires over the course of the visit and the months that follow. What the committee cannot arrange is hurry — nor would it wish to.